Participant(s): Kaito
[Closed]

Today, the clouds deigned to relinquish their dominion across the skies to the radiant star. And for the second-time in a row, a young, spry kunoichi Kong vaults through the open window of her bedroom, latching onto a nearby branch from a tree some couple feet from her house—or at least, that’s how she anticipated this part of the whole stunt would go. Although the initial maneuver’s transition appears seamlessly, the sudden downward force bends the branch and until she hears a *crack* at its base. Instinctively, she slacks her grip on the branch, performs an impromptu roll, and finally regains her balance after digging the heel of her left foot to break her momentum. “Maybe I should go for a different branch this time?” She ponders, looking at the now lame branch before pointing to another in the opposing direction. “The one opposite to it would make for a d—”

A knob twists and turns, the hinges creaking as the wooden door reveals a familiar mature woman. She is dressed in a navy blue and white accented kimono, with two cloth wrapped rectangular parcels stacked on one hand.

“Oh right! Thanks again, mom.” She says sheepishly, acquiring her two and carefully tucking them away into a small backpack.

>>> “How did I come to raise such a troublesome child?” Her mother sheathes her hands into the open arm sleeves.

“I remembered to bring my satchel this time, though!” Himari pirouettes to show her tool pouch. The mother sighs.

The mother sighs and pats her head. “Be safe.”

Himari nods fervently, embracing her. “I will!” She remarks with a jubilant expression.

Parting ways, Himari traverses through the forestry of Konoha’s outskirts before arriving several minutes later in the main village towards the facility responsible for mission assignments. She stands a couple feet away from the entrance in waiting for a friendly-faced companion while doing a series of butt-kicks to mettle her unyielding anticipation and excitement.

Kozue has been awake since before the sky began to lighten with the promise of dawn. For setting out on her latest trip she was up early to pack a few last minute necessities and ensure that she had time to have a large and filling breakfast before she leaves the village on her mission. Getting started on a good foot is just common sense and good practice. Kozue finishes up by making sure all the lights are off and her apartment is locked while she is gone. She heads downstairs to the exit, pausing only at a neighbor's door to slip her key under their doormat so they can water her houseplants while she's gone.

From there Kozue walks across the nearly empty streets of Konoha as the earliest rays of sunshine cast their light across the tops of the buildings of Konoha. At this hour it's no surprise that most of those who are awake are still inside, at work elsewhere, or concealed from view. When Kozue reaches the front gates of dawn the sky is even lighter, though the sun itself still hasn't appeared over the horizon yet. As Kozue reaches the gates she nods to the night guards that are present and takes up a waiting position nearby. It's just about sunrise and time for the others to show up soon so they can get started on their way.

[Limits: Konoha Only]

Kaito in his usual happy mood started walking proudly towards the Konoha training fields, to practice his one and only jutsu, his Rasengan. While walking, Kaito stopped, running towards a old man with back and muscle problems, said to have occurred during his former shinobi days. "Mr Itadaki! Take it easy! Maybe let me take that for ya!" Kaito bent over and picked up two large boxes. "Ahh..huff...Thank you Kaito..huff.....You can just put those over there!" Kaito performed his usual happy and carefree smile "No problamo! Just try to rest up! If ya need help just find me and I'll be right there!" He then bowed politely and ran off waving goodbye.

Shortly after arriving at the training grounds, Kaito started stretching and let out a small battle cry screaming at the top of his lungs "ALRIIIGHT!!!!!" startling all those around him trying to focus on meditation. He then started running towards the nearby attack dummies, manipulating his inner chakra to form a Rasengan. "HA!!! RASEEEEENGAAN!!!!" After startling the meditating bystanders once more, The dummy then tor apart by the spinning chakra shortly after it's remains were flown back "E-Ehehe..Did I add too much chakra...?".

After a good morning warm up spent training with her new weapon Hoshiko is in an extra good mood. She's been making progress and the weather is getting better. The longer days and appearance of green and flower buds that spring brings brighten the days. After inspecting her weapons to make sure they aren't dirty or in need of maintenance Hoshiko puts them away and then starts walking to the nearest street as she leaves the training grounds. She picks a scenic path to enjoy the spring morning as she returns to the center of Konoha with all of its usual early morning activity. Here Hoshiko stops and has a look around as she considers her options. She could head home and have breakfast there or she could spend some time in Konoha. She looks around to see if any of her friends are out and about this morning.

Yuga's growling stomach spoke for his raw, nerve-shot feet when it "suggested" that he stop and make camp. For the first time in a long while he didn't fight that idea off. After traveling nonstop for nearly a week to make it to the coastline, Yuga thought that this was as good a time as any to take inventory. After all, it had been a long trip after fleeing Takigakure. With the crisp scent of salty ocean air mixing with the forest he knew it was finally, almost over. Yuga's stomach, like an insistent toddler, once again badgered him with the same complaint. I'm hungry.

"Yeah, yeah... I get the point." With a flicker Yuga disappeared into the trees, motionlessly waiting for some game to pass. It always seemed to. The Land of Fire was good like that. He imagined that even the poorest foresters out here likely lived like kings compared to back home. Yuga recalled the time that a Namazu clan elder had hidden a dead rat to eat under a floorboard during one of their lessons. He could still see the old man's wrinkly finger held to his lips as if to say, "don't say a word." The man was a legend, a warrior. But sometimes, if they're hungry enough, even legends eat rats.

The sound of crunching leaves disturbed his reverie. "That's no rat." Yuga whispered softly through a smirk. The buck under him grazed without a care in the world. It was almost a beautiful thing watching it eat, as if there was nothing in the world that could mean it harm. Yuga almost felt bad, the peace of the forest felt like a delicate thing, one that shouldn't be disturbed without reason. Once again his stomach quaked it's familiar tune, and his quarry's ears perked up to the noise. On instinct Yuga made a quick succession of hand signs, fired a water bullet from his mouth, and watched as the deer hit the ground. He had shot it in the neck. "Sorry." Was all he could say landing near the body on his sore feet.

The orange glow of the fire roared in the blackness of the night, the heat slowly roasting the stag and Yuga's cold toes alike. He sat back with a charred haunch and let the smokey smell tantalize him for a moment before digging in. "Tomorrow I'll make it into town," he thought to himself. "It'll be nice to talk to someone besides you." For the first time all day, sitting around the campfire alone, Yuga's stomach silently ignored him.

"Anyone to talk to really."

[Limits: Konoha only]

In preparation for his big assignment coming up, Yokono spreads out his gear in his bedroom. He completely empties his bag and lays out all the contents. He's surprised by how much trash and dirt has built up in his bag and he throws things out and takes the bag outside to shake out and leave hanging to air out. Then he returns inside and starts going through all of his gear to make sure that everything is in order for a big long trip.

As Yokono inspects everything he realizes that he's low on chakra and blood increasing pills and the pouches he has for storing them are starting to fall apart. And while his kunai looks like it's in good condition it could do with sharpening. Yokono takes out a piece of paper from his desk and starts to write down a shopping list of things he needs to pick up to replenish his travel kit. Then he adds a few things that would be good to have on the trip. After cleaning things up he decides it's time to go shopping.

Yokono strikes out from his house for one of the quarters of Konoha that is full of shops that sell ninja tools and supplies. Once he arrives he starts window shopping and looking around for where the best deals are on some of the items on his list. It's also hard to resist the urge to buy something new since he has been saving up since his promotion. He moves slowly from one shop window to the next while he browses.

The cold gloomy weather has been really getting to Hoshiko lately. It doesn't help that she's been writing reports and reading old reports all the time. She decides it's time for a break and goes for a mid day walk when the late autumn sun is out. Some ramen would be good to help with the cold. Maybe Hoshiko will run into someone she knows there.

He had known this could happen.

But growing up, learning history, listening to stories, had instilled a belief in him - that Konoha was different.

Guess he was just prejudiced, having been brought up in the Land of Fire.

They were prepared for Eien at the gates. Hokage-sama's message was given to him. Simply put, it was a no. But hey, at least the guards weren't impolite.

He didn't blame or resent them, of course. That's the kind of person he is.

It's night now, and Eien is currently sitting with his back to a tree trunk in front of a fire he just made. His mask is up.

He is quietly humming a tune. That of a lullaby - or that's what he thought it was. But it has stayed with him for as long as he could remember, since his earliest memories. Where he got it from, he has forgotten.

A thing of beauty — I know

Will never fade away

And I'll do my duty — I know

Somehow I'll find a way

But a thing of beauty

Will never fade away

And I'll do my duty

We'll never fade away...

The predominant thought in his mind - "Where to, next?"

"How about Ame?"

Like Kozue said to her friends the last time they gathered together, she found a lead on the group that they were pursuing. And now that all of her friends are back in Konoha it's time to follow up on that lead and see if tugging on this thread will reveal something more, like the origins or identity of the man with strange powers. She sent her friends both messages to meet her in one of the debriefing rooms available and ahead of this meeting Kozue arrives early enough to set up and prepare for their arrival. There isn't much to take care of, but she does have a few documents and some maps to go over with them.

Once Kozue has taken care of these few items, she takes a seat in a chair in the small room that she chose for their meeting. Sitting back she pulls her water bottle out of her bag to have a sip while she patiently waits for both Yokono and Hoshiko to arrive.

Fall has begun in the Land of Fire. It's not in full swing yet, the leaves are just starting to change color, but the heat of summer has eased quite a bit. It's the best time of the year for outdoor activities, especially traveling.

Eien had started off towards Konohagakure on foot as soon as the weather had become sufficiently dry after monsoon, visiting and spending time in various villages and towns on his way - sleeping out in the open - though largely steering clear of troublesome areas like Tanzaku Gai. He was in no particular hurry - he knew that at 18, he was already pretty late by ninja standards. But he is still confident that even with his meagre abilities, he would find something worthy of note to do in Konoha. If he got accepted in, that is. That small sum of money he started with from the monastery won't last long.

Currently, he is at a tea shop a small distance away from the boundary of Konoha proper, enjoying his go-to hot drink of choice - black tea with milk - with the appropriate snack - wheat biscuits.

[Limit(s): Open]

Sometime during the cloudy late afternoon, having check-marked today’s morning training routine and providing what aid she can for the locals at home, Himari finds herself once more in Konoha’s walls within one of the marketplace districts. Standing inside one of the numerous bookstores, Kawakami’s Novelties, she traces her finger along with the listed surnames before pulling a book from its shelf, skimming through its contents.

“No, this isn’t it.” She mutters to herself a few moments after, flipping the item over showing its spine. “Second Edition,” She sighs, returning the item back to its shelf. Strutting a few paces further down the line, she repeats the same motion, pausing just when she reaches the bottom shelf. She carefully wiggles the book with one hand, it’s somewhat heftier and wedged tightly between on either side. With two hands now resting horizontally at either edge and with a quiet harumph proceeded by an oof, manages to free the hardback text from its confines albeit falls flat on her bum.

With an expectant sliver of hope, she gazes upon its cover, it appears somewhat more archaic than its predecessor, and its age apparent when examining the weathered pages and coarse leather binding. She shifts to reveal its spine—First Edition—resultantly rousing puffed cheeks and a frown. Placing the item back in its shelved case and rising from her seated position, she hears—

“Did you find what you were looking for?” A voice asks, revealing the sender to be a casually dressed, weathered-looking woman.

“Well, aside from these earlier versions, not really.” Himari replies dejectedly, the woman nods thoughtfully.

“Maybe you can try the shop down by a few blocks at Tokei’s shop. He recently restocked his items not too long ago today, so he may have what you’re looking for there.”

Thanking the clerk for her aid and exchanging farewells, Himari exits and trots to the now third bookstore she’ll scavenge. In a short time, she arrives outside at her destination, greeting the presumed store owner, Tokei, before inquiring of her want of a specific scroll or text.

“Medical Ninjutsu, eh?” He hums, cupping his chin. “Yeah, I do recall seeing several about such. Anything, in particular, you’re looking for?”

“Anything you have on hand would be great, I just need a few.” She answers, shrugging as she counts on her fingers. “Healing techniques; herbology, and even just remedies or medicinal practices will do just dandy for me.” With an affirmative nod, Tokei makes himself scarce among the paged towers in his shop, meanwhile, Himari busies herself perusing what’s on display.

It's a nice fall afternoon. After good training in the morning and his duties, he has the rest of the afternoon free and ahead of him to look forward to. It's too nice to stay inside so he goes outside of HQ and hits the streets to walk around some. He heads off to the city center to see if anyone he knows is there and also free.

[Limits: Closed]

It was just barely after sunrise with partially cloudy skies, a young, spry ravenette kunoichi Kong vaults through the open window of her bedroom, latching onto a nearby branch from a tree some couple feet from her house before sticking her landing with a perfect summersault—or at least, that’s how she anticipated the whole stunt would go. Although the whole series of maneuvers transitions seamlessly, she ends up misdirecting her footing during her landing at the ground level, with her foot turning oddly, and ends up stumbling forward momentarily before regaining her balance through a cartwheel, outstretching her arms and clasping her legs together. “Safe!” She cries triumphantly with a smile.

A knob twists and turns, the hinges creaking as the wooden door reveals a woman around her 30s dressed in a navy blue and white accented kimono, leaning against the frame. She carries two distinguishable satchels in one hand, jostling them. “Oh! Uh, thanks mom.” She says sheepishly, acquiring her belongings and fastening them to her person. “Almost forgot, eheh.”

Her mother sighs, a faint smile curled on her lips. “I understand you’ve been waiting for this moment to go on your first mission since you’ve graduated.” She pats her head. “Be safe out there Himari, okay?”

Himari nods fervently, embracing her mother. “I will!”

“Ah, and before I forget.” The woman searches through the breast sleeve of her haneri, handing Himari a small note. “When you have the time, be sure to gather everything I wrote down here. I’ll be cooking something special to commemorate after your mission.”

Himari’s eyes twinkle, a jubilant expression on her countenance. “Don’t have to tell me twice, I’ll be back in a jiffy!”

Parting ways, Himari traverses through the forestry of Konoha’s outskirts before arriving several minutes later in the main village towards the facility responsible for mission assignments. Upon entering, she’s relieved to find a relatively short line-up of a genin-chuunin mix of shinobi waiting, some conversing among themselves in groups and others passing time in their own ways. Yet, she cannot recognize any familiar faces a year prior among those who stand present from what would have been her graduating class. Likely already making large strides in their careers, a surge of resolve whets her fervor for her awaiting mission to catch up.

Finally reaching the front desk, after a brief exchange of words, she receives her first commission before exiting; “Recover a lost pet ferret, Hyaku, back to Lady Mikoto Nakajima,” she whispers to herself, skimming through the details pondering. “Brown and white fur...average size...likes to eat and play a lot. I wonder what ferrets like to eat...and she mentions he was last spotted around the large lake eastward in the village.” Without a moment’s delay, she races to her destination and starts her careful search for the critter.

What was meant to be a short venture became a gruesome ordeal of patience. Although she found tracks believing to belong to her quarry, there is an abundance scattered across the impressionable earth. They eventually narrow his field of movement to the back of a partially degraded shop garnered in small cracks, holes, and splintering wood. Maneuvering about and peeking through one of the gaps she could find, “Hyaku~?” She calls out—nothing. She peeks through another: also nothing. A third time: still nothing. When she stumbles across, presumably her last spot to check, lowers her gaze to find a pair of dim beads shifting about in the dark. “Hyaku? Is that you buddy?” The beads glance in her general direction, for a brief moment there’s a pause and then—pitter patter pitter patter—the beads grow in size. Himari instinctively reels back as the creature escapes from its confines; brown and white fur, average size, and fast. Yep, that’s her quarry.

“H-Hey!” She bellows, reaching a hand out before rising to her feet and giving chase. To her astonishment, the ferret’s quite dextrous and fleet-footed, finding herself dancing between modes of investigation and pursuit throughout a decent length of the village as though she were playing a game of hide and seek with the young animal. For what time felt like forever she had been chasing him, she momentarily resigns to rest and sits herself down on a green pasture nearby a playground. “Geez, just where does he get all that energy to keep running like that from?” Rummaging through her belongings, she helps herself to a generous sum of gyoza dumplings.

As she indulges herself, hidden somewhere else, Hyaku’s nostrils flare, a most tempestuous scent perforates and attracts his attention. He reveals himself from a hiding spot between the gap of two closely positioned buildings and approaches before stopping just shy of a foot from where she sat. “Hm?” She hums, noticing he’s no longer attempting to conceal himself and eyes intently the foodstuffs in her hands. “Oh, you’re hungry too, huh? With all the running around you did, I’d imagine takes a lot out of ya. Here,” With another gyoza in hand, she carves out a bite-sized piece into her palm and presents the meal to him. Hyaku remains motionless before slowly advancing. “It’s OK, it’s yours, you’ve earned.” Once close, he sniffs out the contents of the minute portion before readily eating it from her palm. Some time passes as they commune together over the meal.

Thereafter all the gyozas have been consumed, Himari cleans up her little eatery before glancing at Hyaku, curled up with closed eyes. She grins, dusting herself off before carefully raising him into her arms and trotting back to Nakajima’s home, who appears delighted to find the young genin in secure possession of her pet after having exchanged a couple of words.

“Oh, thank you so very much for bringing my baby boy back home safe and sound. Heaven knows what I would do if anything were to happen to him.” She remarks gleefully as Himari relinquishes Hyaku back to her owner. “I hope he hasn’t caused you any trouble when you had gone looking for him.”

Himari shakes her head. “None at all, miss. He’s just been a bundle of joy to play with.” They share a mutual chortle, Nakajima smiling.

“He’s always been one to go out exploring when one’s around to watch him. I’ll need to have a stern talk with my neighbor about this. But, I won’t take up too much of your time, you must be a busy girl and there’s no rest for the weary these days, well, for shinobi at least.”

And with that, they went their separate ways as Himari rendezvouses to the mission facility to report on her completed assignment. It certainly proved an enjoyable experience, one she’ll remember a long time from now. She commits the rest of the afternoon until evening doing training exercises before making one final pit stop at the marketplace to gather the groceries listed before returning home. Afterward, her mother prepares her favorite dish, a scrumptious bowl of Geki Kara Tsukumen, together spending the last hours of the day one last time celebrating her genin graduation.

“So,” Himari starts. “I’ve been thinking a bit earlier today that we could use a little extra company at home, but hear me out…”

Koga wakes up after a good nights rest to hear rustling in the kitchen. He wouldn't dare leave his room until he's in his daytime clothes. Upon further inspection he finds his father gearing up for another day of gathering fish for the village. Koga's mom can be heard snoring in the other room. Koga hates saying goodbye so he avoids entering the kitchen until after his father leaves. He grabs some cold bread from the hand-me-down fridge and heads off to do some training. He leaves the house, ensuring the door closes softly, and heads to a secluded area where his training won't be a nuisance.

"I've always wanted a friend to train with, but due to my poor performance at the Ninja Academy I'm seen as the weakest link" he thinks to himself.

Once at the training grounds Koga lays out his ninja pouch and pulls out a white piece of paper and a quill from it. Then he removes a bandage wrapped around his thumb. With a quill he pricks his thumb drawing a blood. He draws a single zig-zag formation from the bottom of the paper to the top and then pins the paper to a tree.

"Only cut the line. Only cut the line." He mutters to himself.

He takes a deep breath and throws his hands together into a hand-sign.

"Swift Acceleration!"

A force of adrenaline rushes through Koga's body as he doubles his speed, beginning to see the world move slower. He gets into a running position and focuses his chakra into his right hand.

"Chakra Scalpel." He says with determination.

Koga sprints to the paper at full speed and swipes his Chakra Scalpel through the paper trying to cut only through the red zig zags. Panting from exertion, he takes a deep breath and looks up to inspect the paper. For the most part he maintained within the red, but there were several places where the white was slightly cut.

"Not good enough."

Koga repeats this process until he grows too exhausted to carry on. Frustrated with imperfection he punishes himself by skipping lunch. Walking home from training Koga finds his nose being drawn to various ramen and sushi shops. His stomach begins to growl.

"No, I wasn't good enough. I'm a stain on the white cloth that is the Jishaku family name."

After arriving home he sees his mother awake and preparing lunch.

"Are you hungry? I made cooked salmon!" She said with pride.

"That's okay mom, I already ate, but thanks anyways!" Koga hates lying to his mom.

Koga heads to his room and gathers his things for a bath. While bathing he dwells on his shortcomings and strategizes how he could potentially do better.

"If I were better I'd have friends. If I were better I could help people. If I were better I'd matter.

While in the bath Koga hears his father walk in the door. He can hear whispering in the kitchen but can't quite make out the words. He senses it's about him.

After finishing his bath Koga dries off and heads to his room and plops down on his bed staring at the ceiling. His stomach grumbles again as his nose catches a whiff of something. He looks towards the smell and on his nightstand he sees a paper plate with cooked salmon. A note from his father rests against the plate.

"Don't be too hard on yourself son, have pride in your efforts" - Dad

Koga grinned in surrender and set the plate on his chest. Eating salmon as he lay on his bed throwing a ball with the Kumogakure symbol on it into the air and catching it. Once lunch was finished he went out with his father to help with the fishing.

Hours of silence went by before Koga's father said something.

"You're a genin now son. The village is going to expect a lot from you now. They might even punish you for falling short. I want you to know that no matter how many mistakes you make you will always have oasis in our home."

"Thanks dad." Koga said as he untensed.

"Also, don't let me catch you lying to your mother again."

The day went on and they fished until sunset before packing up and going home for the night.

After the morning sparring session Saya parted ways with those that she was sparring with to return home and clean up after that vigorous workout. This includes spending some time after her shower with her gear to make sure that it is in tip top shape and that everything is ready to go for the next assignment, spar, or battle. There is plenty of time to take care of all this before the next item on her agenda for the day: meeting up with Yume to have some fish and chips. Saya stops at the door to throw on a light jacket before she slings her sword onto her back. She steps outside and locks the door behind her before she hops down the few stairs that lead to her front door in one go and then strikes out on the street to make her way to the plaza with a fountain where she's going to meet Yume.

While walking, Saya enjoys the familiar sights and smells of the home that she hasn't seen in many months. She also enjoys seeing familiar faces. Neighbors and passing acquaintances mostly, but she notices a friend or two and waves happily to them and make a promise to catch up later. When Saya reaches the fountain she looks around but doesn't spot her friend yet. Perhaps she has arrived a little early. Saya takes a seat on the lip of the fountain and happily indulges in people watching while she waits. It's good to be home!

It's late in the evening when Hoshiko returns to Konoha. The familiar gates ahead were a welcome sight to her eyes after she was gone for a long time on a mission. She happily greets the ninjas on duty and goes inside. Despite the late hour she knows that the mission is important and immediately goes to the intel division headquarters to deliver the important information. Only after that's done does she go back to her home. She finds her place covered in dust after being empty for months but the state of it doesn't bother her any. Hoshiko drops her travel pack on the floor to deal with later and enjoys the shower and then a good sleep.

The next day she sets out early in the morning to see what's going on in Konoha and what she's missed the last few months while on assignment. Knowing that the people she most wants to see are probably going to be out getting some food so she goes to where the highest number of places to eat are and starts to look around for someone she knows to catch up with.

[Limits: full]

The morning sun streams through Yokono's window waking him at an early hour even though he was up late celebrating. He yawns and rubs at his eyes before rolling over away from the light, but it's no use. As he rolls over in bed he thinks of what Nahal said the night before about special training and meeting in the morning and so it is that Yokono can't return to sleep. He groggily gets up and rubs at his eyes again with another yawn and gets ready to go to the training grounds. It takes him a little longer than usual but he's not aware of anyone waiting on him except for Nahal who he needs to summon first anyway. Yokono grabs a piece of fruit to eat on his way and goes to the nearest training grounds where the grass is damp with morning dew.

Taking a deep breath of the fresh morning air, Yokono raises his hand and then bites down on it to draw blood. Channeling chakra into this he calls on the contract made to summon Nahal who appears before him. "Good morning!" Yokono says excitedly. "Now tell me about this special training. You've mentioned it before and last night you said it would be in a week. What is it and why?"

When summoned, Nahal stares at Yokono for a minute and then stretches. "Good morning." He answers in no hurry. "You will begin senjutsu training in a week. Another is assigned to teach you. She will be available in one week. We will prepare until then."

Yokono's eyes widen and he smiles at the thought of becoming a sage like so many other famous ninjas. "OK! What do we need to do to prepare?"

Their first training session begins and a few hours later Nahal returns to his home.

Yokono remains standing in the training grounds. The sun has burned off the dew and its looking like it is going to be a beautiful day. What a great first day as a jonin, Yokono thinks, but feels a sudden hunger pang. All he had was a piece of fruit to eat before his training session. He looks at his watch to check the time and then goes looking for some breakfast in town before he has to report to duty.

It's the end of an eventful day and the shadows of Konoha's many trees cast long shadows across the ground. At this pre-twilight hour Yokono sits by himself somewhere on the border between one of the village's parks and one of the many training grounds with his back against a tree. His legs are crossed and he holds a kunai in his hand and stares at the point as he moves it back and forth in a motion that is almost hypnotic while he reflects on not just this day and the events that occurred earlier leading up to him proving himself worth bearing the rank of jonin now, but also on the trainings and lessons he's had that have helped him get to this point.

He first thinks of Nahal, his first training partner and stalwart companion. Without Nahal's direct assistance he wouldn't have passed his test earlier. But others along the way have contributed to his growth and development as a ninja too. He reflects on some of his genin friends he completed a few missions with and then those that have mentored and taught him. That thought leads him to remembering that even if he's met this milestone in his life he still has more to go. He still needs to learn advanced sealing and that special training Nahal has gone on about before, something that Yokono needs to ask him about.

But first Yokono has another task to try first. Bolstered by his earlier successes, he decides the moment is right to see if all his training has paid off. He grips the kunai firmly, then cuts the tip of his finger. It's not a deep cut, but enough to draw blood, and Yokono closes his eyes to focus on the chakra within him and direct it to that injured tip of his finger. He feels a slight sensation and when he opens his eyes, the cut has healed completely.

Yokono grins with joy at having finally mastered this technique. On the heels of his other recent success, it seems like a good time to call it a wrap and go home for the night to share the news with his family if they haven't already heard. As he starts to get up and get to his feet, Nahal appears. Yokono is surprised by this showing, he wasn't expecting to see the tiger again today and he's never come uncalled before. He is certain that when he cut his finger and tested the medical ninjutsu he had been learning that he didn't also use his blood to summon the tiger. "Nahal, what is it?"

"The elder has spoken. Your training will begin in one week." Nahal replies in his low growl of a voice.

"Training, which training is that? And why in a week?"

"The elders will it. I will see you tomorrow." And with that Nahal is gone.

Yokono looks at the spot where Nahal was standing in disbelief and rises to his feet. "That's something." He mutters under his breath to himself as he brushes dirt from his shorts. He'll get no answers tonight, that's for sure. But he has plenty of celebrating to do to distract him from the mystery of this. Tucking away his kunai and stretching one last time to work the soreness out of his muscles from the earlier test, Yokono returns to his home.

An interesting encounter with a strong missing-nin that possessed unusual abilities has left Kozue a little troubled. Her mind keeps returning to what happened, and although Hoshiko and Yokono also witnessed the same thing she did, and agree as to what happened, she can't help but think what happened was too impossible to have occurred. It must have been a hallucination, some sort of genjutsu, or other shared illusion.

Unable to fully shake it from her mind, Kozue goes in search of answers. Unfortunately her first search turned up little, so she's gone to Midori's office. While she finds the door there closed, she waits around for the current appointment to end or for Midori to return to the room. Kozue's well-traveled friend, who is also well-versed in many unusual abilities, might be able to shine some light on the situation or at least help her find a starting point for uncovering more information.

It looks like things are coming together with plans, materials, and information and soon Tian will need to be setting out on the road again. To proceed closer to her goal of departing from Hoshi Suuhai to seek out information on the stolen item she is trying to recover, Tian is currently browsing the shops of Hoshi Suuhai to acquire materials and gear that will help support the cover story. She stands in front of one shop that is in a building that looks freshly rebuilt. Tian looks over the items in the front window, then turns from this display to look up and down the street. She's supposed to meet her brother here, and as always she has hopes of catching a glimpse of a familiar face to catch up with them.

[Limits: for Midori only]

Yokono has had to put a lot of work into figuring out how he's going to meet many of his goals lately. It seems that in some cases, his attempts to reach for some of them, such as learning very complicated fuinjutsu, are going to take a lot of time and training. While he has things to work on towards that objective it occurs to him that he also needs to figure out some other shorter term goals for improving his ability to fight, defend himself, and carry out his duties both as a ninja and a future officer of the Konoha military police.

One thing he realized during training with Nahal is that he really needs to learn to work on defense and his ability to take damage. After talking to some friends and family he realized there are some ways of healing one's own body during a fight and this makes him want to learn more. It would be a really useful talent to harness. Since he previously met one of the village's most accomplished healer ninjas, Yokono followed her instructions that she gave him once about how to set up an appointment to meet with her. He was surprised how easy that ended up being and then surprised again when he got a message that the location had changed to one of the training fields. Considering his request Yokono guesses he should have anticipated that.

Yokono goes out into the training field that was on the note with Nahal, his usual training partner. They both get there a little early and Yokono finds a stump to sit on while he waits. As his eyes roam the surrounding area to keep track of new arrivals to the area he speaks with Nahal. "What do you think this training is going to be like?"

The tiger is silent for a moment before he answers. "It may be hard. And it might hurt."

"Why do you think it will hurt?" Yokono asks the summoned tiger.

"Because to heal, there must be an injury first." Nahal answers.

This is a wise answer and Yokono nods before he has a simple reply. "No pain, no gain." After this he goes back to quietly watching the fields around him.

It's the first day of Konoha's Spring Festival! The annual event always requires a lot of careful planning and work behind the scenes, but it is of course well worth all such work. Seemingly overnight the village appears to have transformed with colorful garlands and paper lanterns hung everywhere. Storefronts have decorated their exteriors and even set up outdoor tables and the same goes for the local restaurants and food vendors. In one plaza there is a concentration of gaming booths, which many claim have been "rigged" to be challenging for young ninjas. In another plaza a stage has been erected and fliers announcing a schedule of events have been posted. Among the events includes an academy student talent show, live music, skits, puppet shows, and several small competitions to be held on the stage throughout the week of the festival.

In addition to the streamers and decorations around the village, which lend a festive air to the festival, the local cherry trees are in full bloom. As the petals drop off they coat the ground in a gentle carpet of pale pink snow, a true sign that spring is here at last.

Although the first day traditionally ends with a spectacular fireworks show, the start of the festival is without fanfare: the smell of freshly baked morning treats, the sound of games vendors trying to attract visitors, and a large crowd of people dressed in festival clothing ready to celebrate the first day of spring.

Despite having work to do, the first day of spring is one worth celebrating. Kozue leaves her office at mid-day to find lunch among the many streetside vendors and have a look around at how the festival preparations finally came together. In honor of the spring festival she has tied a colorful bow in her hair that has a cherry blossom print, but Kozue won't have time to change into more traditional festival clothing until later.

[Limits: for Kozue Senju only]

There have been a lot of big changes and accomplishments for Yokono lately. First he was assigned to the chunin promotion test and passed which let him advance to the rank of chunin. He knows a number of ninjas don't advance beyond this rank and doesn't want to be counted among them. He has bigger plans such as achieving the rank of jonin and making a name for himself as a skilled ninja. Secondly he was admitted to the military police division as a cadet to begin training to join the officer forces. This has been something that he's wanted for a while, ever since he started studying the ninja divisions and learning what they do. And with all these changes and goals that are met, Yokono knows he needs to work hard to do so.

Recalling some of the goals and specific things he wants to learn and do from his meeting with the Hokage to discuss his future in one of the village's divisions, he knows he needs to find someone to help him learn more advanced techniques. It's time for him to put some work into finding a mentor. He's not sure where to start, but he met an accomplished member of his own clan, Kozue Senju, a few weeks ago when he was still a genin getting back into his usual duties, while eating ramen. He puts out some inquiries within his clan and among his relatives to help track her down and put in a request for a meeting, not within her capacity as the village's jonin commander, but as a clansman. He hopes that she knows some people and can help put him on the right track to finding a suitable mentor to help him meet many of his training goals.

Yokono arrives at the small cafe that is near the Senju clan district. For this meeting he has come alone, leaving Nahal to take care of his own business with a promise to catch up later. It sounded like Nahal was going through some of his own trials and trainings, but the whole explanation was left very vague. Yokono claims a table and waits for Kozue to join up for their meeting.

[Limit(s): Open to Konoha Only]

Having worked through his morning routine into the afternoon, Tatsuya sits poised in the Lotus position aloft the same bedrock on a familiar hilltop he habitually visits as though it were an old friend, having cast aside only his jacket. Concentrating control over his breathing, he harks to the easy breeze, seemingly in a trance for an illusory length of time now since forgotten when he started, absent of most thoughts that would otherwise invade his mental space. Several minutes henceforth, he re-attunes himself to the natural world and psyches himself up for the starting point and main course of his afternoon routine.

“Righto, let’s see how far I’ve come in my weapons tools training.” He remarks, arising from his Padmansama before performing a short sequence of calisthenics, warming up and reawakening his slumbered muscles. It was time for him to self-evaluate his combat prowess since his last friendly engagement with Leon. In retrospect, he is honored to have come across the boy that day, and their spar together left much for him to desire in terms of personal growth. Leon excelled in close-quarters combat, revealing an inefficiency in Tatsuya's shinobi repertoire from the extended time he spent perfecting his ninjutsu that he neglected to hone his physical prowess. A shinobi who cannot confront a foe at close-range when attempting to maintain a distance will be surely doomed, though he hates to admit it, there will be far more instances where he cannot favorably keep his adversaries at arm’s length.

Now feeling refreshed and brand-new, he trots over to the local training grounds nearby and props himself a good ten meters away from the tree log stumps. Assuming a combative position, his left hand tucked into his ninja tool’s pouch, he remains still for a couple of seconds, eyeing each of the stumps at random, before swiftly throwing a small volley of shurikens towards the leftmost stump, all three of them connected to their intended target. Pleased with the results, he retrieves his weaponry for a second round. Repeating the same stance he throws only two shurikens at a close, perpendicular angle from each other at the middle stump, the vertical shuriken was responsible for immediately re-directing the horizontal shuriken’s trajectory to the right at a certain distance. The resulting action produced a shallow gash at the stump’s side.

Tatsuya sighs in a mixture of slight dejection and exasperation, rubbing the nape of his neck. “It sounds so simple to do in theory, but the actual practice of understanding how the subtle mechanics work...bah. I’ll have to revise, I’m only going uphill from here.” Once more, he retrieves his ranged weaponry and holsters them in their proper place, continuing into his third and final test. Again, assuming his stance with an intermittent pause, he hurls a volley of three at the rightmost stump, however, while leaping to his right-side performing a midair, reverse-pirouette in an attempt to curve the trajectory of his shurikens just enough under the assumption it could confuse his opponent into thinking he deliberately missed, only to have them whirl around and at them. One shuriken struck true, the second grazed the stump, and the third veers far from the intended target and strikes a tree ten feet away from the stump's location. “Honestly, that’s not too shabby.” He says, a triumphant smile on his countenance. “Improved far better than last week. Could hardly hit any of them, even with the ones that dispersed wildly off course.”

He continues repeating this routine for an hour before recuperating underneath the blessed shade of a well-foliaged tree for a well-deserved snack break. He chugs down half his bottle of water and helps himself to one of the home-made onigiris his mother prepared prior to his departure earlier this morning.

[Limits: for the Hokage only]

After that difficult test and all the months of work that Yokono put into doing training and doing missions to try and catch up to where he thought he should be, he feels happy to have passed that test and gotten a promotion to the rank of chunin. For him it also signals that it's time to be picking a division now that he's eligible to join one. While he knows it's not necessary, he's always wanted to specialize and serve in one of Konoha's divisions and learning skills that would suit him for one or another. It's an important thing that deserves some thought, but Yokono also doesn't want to delay, he wants to get started on this as soon as he possibly can. After a short period of careful consideration Yokono knows just which one he wants to join although he knows it will be a challenge. Only a few days after he got promoted he put in his request to join a division and has just been waiting to hear back.

When notice comes that he needs to meet with the Hokage to discuss his assignment request he is overjoyed. After sharing the news with Nahal, Yokono goes straight to the appointments desk so he can get on the schedule to move his request forward. And when the appointed day and time arrives he shows up five minutes early, like he was always taught to do when arriving for a meeting, and checks in with the appointments desk before he waits to be called in.

The meeting seems too formal and official to take Nahal with him, and the sort of thing Yokono needs to handle on his own, so his summon is not with him for this meeting. But he promised to fill Nahal in on the details during their afternoon training session that they have planned later.

After returning to Hoshi Suuhai from a lengthy trek through the wilderness of the Sound country, Tian was finally able to rest and relax in a place that provides all the security and comforts of home. The first order of business was to catch up with her brother and a few others that have become friends within the strange city of Hoshi Suuhai. After that, Tian spent an afternoon enjoying a good long bath and scrub to get the dirt of the road off her, and this was then followed by a large amount of delicious hot food before she sank into a comfortable bed.

Tian awakes early in the morning feeling much refreshed and rested after indulging in the comforts of civilization. She dresses and straps on her swords, but leaves her armor off for now, to go to the nearest training area and go through her forms and stretches as a warm up for the day. After spending some time on these, she returns to the headquarters to grab breakfast with others. With a plate of food in hand she looks around for Enlai or anyone else she knows. It's about time to have a talk about what they need to do to follow up on the information she has returned with.

[Limits: Leon + Yokono]

A radiant shine of light shined in what seemed to be an endless, somber sea of darkness, illuminating every shadow cast in its midst startled and roused the peacefully sleeping Tatsuya from his slumber. “Wakey wakey!” Said a familiar, tomboyish squeal followed by gentle yet swift shaking of his left arm. He grunts in response, arises, rubs his eyes, and stretches his arms above his head. “Mm, mornin’ to you too Koko.” He says groggily and half-awake from his disturbed awakening as he looks to see his younger sister, Kyouko, fully dressed in her regular attire with a sunny expression on her countenance. “Wanted to see me before you set off for the Academy, right?” He enquires, Kyouko nodding fervently in response.

“That and I want to thank you again for this, too!” She rummages through her belongings to pull out what looks to be a unique, articulately crafted music box adorned pictorials of marine life painted in mixtures of aquamarine and teal, with silver and white accents along its edges, although absent of any mechanical handle to play notes with. “I’m still trying to figure out how to play it and the song from the instructions it came with, but it’s fun!” He pats the top of her head with a drowsed smile. “Don’t mention it, I’m sure you’ll figure it out in no time. You have fun out there kiddo, mmkay?” She nods once more with fervency, safely stashing away her treasure before departing the bedroom with gusto.

Without further ado, Tatsuya refreshes himself from a warm shower, dressed in his traditional garments before heading to the main living room where he greets his mother, who fashioned him a breakfast beforehand to eat before setting out, was just by the door holding the knob while slipping on her shoes.

“Morning sleepyhead, how’d you sleep?” She asks endearingly.

“Just fine mother,” Tatsuya replies, realizing someone missing from the usual bunch. “Where’s father gone to?”

“He left earlier this morning to meet with some of his colleagues to train their Genin squads together as part of a special exercise.”

He hums knowingly. “That sounds just like him. Thanks for the food though.”

“My pleasure, dearie. You mentioned yesterday evening you’ll be doing your first mission from Lady Tanaka together with...Leon and Yokono, right?”

“That’s true.”

She double-checks the fastening of her sandals by gently kicking the front of her foot to the floor. They were snug. Now standing upright beamingly, she delivers him an affection bear hug, pecking his cheek as Tatsuya bashfully squirms a little all while she says,

“Well, momma wishes you all the best on your first mission with your friends. I’m sure you’ll do a fantastic job.”

“Geez, yeah, thanks.” He pouts. She chaffs, waving as she opens the door. “Safe travels dearie!” She closes the door and departs from the scene.

After his hearty meal, he quickly assesses his belongings before setting foot outside the house. “Another day and a fresh start for greater things to come!” He declares akimbo, now bound for the designated spot where he plans to meet up with his comrades, Leon and Yokono, for their first assignment together nearby the mission assignment building.

During his short trip, Tatsuya ponders for a moment if he should collect the mission details ahead of time for the sake of expediency but decides against it; it could complicate the matter and would simply be easiest to have the three of them there than to play a game of “Guess Who” with the taskmaster. He was eager to get the ball rolling, but exercising some level of patience has its own benefits. He makes a short stop at a ninja tools shop to replenish and furnish his equipment. Not long after, he arrives at the rendezvous point waiting for his teammates as he hums and taps his foot to a rhythm to pass the time.

[Limits: for Leon]

Yokono is up before dawn although the sky has already started to get a little bright as a preview of the coming sunrise. He has a quick breakfast and goes out into the backyard of his house to do some warm up stretches that he does every morning to help with getting the blood flowing and staying good and limber. When he feels ready to go he checks the time. Perfect. He's right on schedule. He gathers up his usual gear, lunch for himself and Nahal, and gets all ready to go. Even if it's only going to be a D rank mission he feels better with having all of his gear in case of anything. Then the last thing he does is go outside and prepare to summon Nahal. He looks at his right hand with which he summoned the contract and then raises his hand to his face. He bites sharply on his thumb and blood wells to the surface. Then Yokono quickly presses his bloodied hand to the ground and channels chakra into it.

Heeding the summons, Nahal appears wreathed in a small amount of smoke that quickly dissipates. In his low voice he questions "That time again? Let's not delay."

"Right! Good morning Nahal. Let's go and meet with Leon." Yokono smiles at the successful appearance of Nahal and leads the way off his family's property and onto the nearest street. From there they make their way through Konoha at dawn. The streets are mostly empty, except for other ninjas like himself that are on their way to the mission assignment desk or to start their training for the day. Yokono nods and smiles to the few he recognizes as he passes them but doesn't linger or delay reaching his goal.

It's just a little after sunrise when Nahal and Yokono both arrive within sight of the building that houses the mission assignment desk. He starts to look around for Leon and says to Nahal. "Keep an eye out for him. Say, do you think they'll give us something different from the usual if we have him working with us?"

Hana woke up in a sudden rush excited to train. As she got ready and grabbed her katana with toast in her mouth she rushed out the door heading towards the training ground once again she passed the hokage mountain And didn’t even stop she just couldn’t wait for some strange reason. She eventually made it panting and sweating as she waited for a sparring partner. she polished her sword while she waited excited as always.

Hana looked at her new genin headband with tears in her eyes as she exclamed “HAHA I DID IT!” as she then realised she would have to train even harder, she then rushed towards to the training grounds stopping outside the hokage office. She looked up at the hokage mountin, and pictured herself up there and kept going to the training grounds. After a while she made it and without even taking a rest She activated her two tomoe sharingan. “Ok let’s test out the white lightning” as without hesitation she weaved the handsigns for white lightning and pointed towards a training log as a white lightning dragon would collide with it, she collapsed from her rustiness with the technique. ”I really have to work on that”. She then spent the entire day weaving handsigns and practicing her swordplay after a long day of hard work she returned to a empty house and slept waiting excitedly for her first mission